Table of contents
The words "mind", "Mind" and "reason" are very often used as synonyms, and in many life situations such a word should be quite acceptable, but with a deeper look at the person, their distinction is important, and in the Orthodox spiritual tradition - necessary. Our goal is general review The content of this terminological series in the Orthodox ascetic tradition and the provision of its respected readers for comparison and reflection in the context of the vital and professional experience of each person.
Background question
We note immediately that the distinction, at least, reason and reason took place in the pre-Christian era as in ancient Greek philosophyand in the spiritual literature of the East.
In antiquity, the first of thinkers who caught the swelling of the character of thinking was heraclit, which showed that one way of thinking allows you to see private, and the other elevates the holistic one. The first is a reasoning, it is less perfect, limited, the person in this case does not rise to universal. The mind is able to perceive the nature holistic, in its movement and interconnection. Socrates and Plato believed that the mind had the ability to contemplate in the concepts, and the mind was sufficient for ordinary use in practical activity. According to Aristotle, no one who acts directly turns out to be more wisely, but the one who owns knowledge in general form. The reason is manifested in private sciences, in any special area. Its function is to prepare judgments, formal attitude to things. The mind is focused on existing.
Holy Fathers of the Church, many of which were beautiful connoisseurs antique heritage, Partly perceived this teaching from the ancient Greek authors, seeing that it really corresponds to human ontology. However, as in many other topics, the perceived knowledge was comprehended by them in the context of life experience in Christ and was filled with a deeper anthropological content, which represents, in my opinion, considerable value. For the patristic teaching is not based on abstract theorization, but on the real experience of spiritual life, and every concept, every semantic distraction is distinguished own life Orthodox devotees.
General view. At the Holy Fathers we can meet the distinction of these two types higher activity Souls - smart and reasonable. But since anthropological terminology in the patristic tradition was never rigidly regulated, there are quite diverse insights and the names, for example, they can be marked as "mind and mind", "mind and reason", "spirit and souncera", "wisdom and knowledge" and etc.
This variety of terminological steam can somewhat disorientate an unprepared reader, but wishing to familiarize themselves with Christian anthropology should be remembered that the terminology in this area is not framed, so the understanding of the patristic texts should not be literally formal. Reading and understanding the creations of the Holy Fathers is special view spiritual activity, which is possible only if the reader itself is rooted in Sacred Trane Orthodox church And has a personal life experience in Christ. As far as this experience of Christian life is deep, the texts of holy fathers become so accessible to humans. This was also spoken by the Apostle Paul: " Which of the people know that in a person, except for the Spirit of the Human, Living in Him? ... Soul man does not accept the fact that from the Spirit of God, because he honors it madness; And can not intelligible, because about this [need] to judge spiritually. But the spiritual judges everything about everything, but no one can judge about him "(). By the way, and in these words of the first apostle, we see the distinction of two types of knowledge - spiritual and spiritual, which are not simply different, but can also lead to opposite conclusions. At the heart of this distinction, again the concepts indicated by us. Let us turn to their more detailed consideration.
Reason
The words "reason", "reasoning" (Διάνοια, λογική) are often found in the books of the Old and New Testament and denote human mental activity, during which events analysis is performed, personal experience And other facts to draw conclusions, make a decision. In this activity, a person relies on its natural forces. To be more accurate and recall the patristic doctrine of the three powers of the soul, the reason and reasoning is a manifestation higher power Soul - reasonable.
This force in the patristic creations has several synonymous items: reasonable, mental, verbal, cognitive. Reasonable power is not a mind, although they are interconnected in a close way. From modern terms closest to the patristic understanding of the term "Intellect" or "Intellectual ability" as an ability to analyze, judgments and conclusions.
The reasonable power of the soul serves the goals of adaptation to the environment. It is also called the saints of the fathers "Natural" mind, and after the fall, the "carnal" mind. He analyzes, argues, thinks, enters the dialogue, creates concepts and presentations, but his judgments are mainly limited to the sensual world. The ultra-fertile world of reason is guessed or gets from the mind: " The mind makes conclusions about inspected things, but not by itself, but by contacting the mind ( νοῦς )» . According to the Holy, the reason is not capable of a common simple one-piece knowledge.
Since after the fall, the natural forces of a person were damaged, it was damaged and the reason, therefore, in all its independent buildings it contains errors. IN Sacred Scripture It is said that sound reason can be lost: "For they are a people who have lost their mind, and there is no point in them." (). A person may be so permitting his mind, which can be referred to as reckless (;;, etc.) or make their minds to bewildered: "The grapeters, having seen him, reasoned between them, saying: this is the heir; Let's go, kill him, and his inheritance will be our " (;). Sweep reason is a treasure that needs to be mined, keeping healthy and multiply: "My son! Keep sanity and prudence"(; Wed:;). Correct reasoning can bring a person to know God's knowledge: "Do not be unprincipled, but know that there is the will of God" (;). The gift of the gifting reasoning is one of the highest gifts for the Orthodox devotee. A person can get rid of the mistakes in the arguments only when it has internal unity with an intact source of truth - Christ.
The reasonable power of the soul manifests itself through thinking (Διάνοια) and acts through the thought or, as the holy fathers said, inner word. Rev. So characterizes the inner word: "The inner logo of the heart is what we think, we judge, we draw up work, read the secret of the whole books, without taking our mouths to utter words."
The concept of thought is clearly distinguished by the holy fathers from the concept "Press" or "Thinking" (λογισμός). Press is an involuntary thought that prompts a person to action. Unlike the thought, which is the result of conscious intellectual work, thoughts have various causes of appearance unconscious people. In humans after the fall, consciousness is filled with many thoughts. People are trying to figure them out or implement them. This inner work It requires considerable mental strength, but it is not a direct manifestation of the reason or thinking in essence, because the original mental object is not generated by the conscious activity of his own mind. A person spends strength to deal with the fact that he was "stuck" in his head and, without realizing the essence, but, finding some excuse and the opportunity, begins to exercise thoughts. Very often the head of a person can be overwhelmed by thoughts when complete absence thoughts that found his expression in folk wisdom: "Body with thoughts, does not mean - to rich in mind." Pure rational thinking - the phenomenon is very rare.
The patristic teaching about the reasonable strength of the soul includes not only the rationality, but also imagination and memory. IN positive sight This force is manifested in the form of knowledge, reasonable opinions, assumptions, scientific theories. IN negative sight - this is idolatry, scattering of thoughts, dreaminess, fantasy, celebration, and also " unbelief, heresy, insignificant, hula, insecurity, ungratefulness and perpetration of sins derived from passionate power in the shower " . Etc. So describes the path of healing reason: "A undoubted faith in God, true, irremistrative and orthodox dogmas, permanent learning of the spirit of the Spirit, pure prayer, continuous thanks to God " [Ibid].
According to the thoughts of the Holy Fathers, the sensible power of the soul has a special connection with a man's head, but the head or brain is not a source, but a tool of this force.
Mind and Mel.
In the patristic creations, the word "mind" ( νοῦς ) It is often used as a synonym for the word "spirit" (πνεῦμα). Many of these identifications are found in the creations of the holy fathers who have pronounced the epolence of Apollinaria (IV century). Why is it possible? Mind, as they say in the Holy Scripture, is oco soul (). This also says the Rev.: "The mind (νοῦς) belongs to the soul, not like anything other, different from her, but as the purest part of it. That eye in the body, then the mind in the shower " .
The mind is a contemplative body. It is intended for contemplation and knowledge of God and the overseas world, for God-form, i.e. For higher spiritual activity of man: "The mind has to dwell in God, and about him to die, as well as his industry and about the terrible courts of him" . In other words, he performs everything that belongs to the human spirit, first of all, connects a person with God, therefore the interchange of these words is possible. However, it should be noted that in the patristic tradition, the word "spirit" is more capacious and includes not only contemplation, but also the concept of spiritual strength and a single spiritual feeling.
In the instructions, the referennial purpose of the mind is described in detail: " Body of bodily - eyes, the organ of sight of the spiritual - the mind ... a soul that does not have a good mind and good Life, Blind ... The eye sees the visible, and the mind comprehends the invisible. The bad mind is the light of the soul. Who has the mind of Bogolyuchiv, he enlightened with his heart and beats his mind with his mind. "
For such contemplation, it is necessary to silence (suc ... a) in the whole human nature so that the person was silent sensuality, dreaminess, thinking (!). In this state, the mind does not argue, but contemplates. Contemplation is the main activity of the mind, thanks to which he learns God, and the spiritual world, and creature. Contemplation is not thinking, it is perception of things and phenomena in direct exement, in their inner essence, and not in their physical qualities. Mind sees-contemplates hidden spiritual meaning, traces of the presence of God, seeks to see the divine plans and ideas. The relationship of the mind and contemplation is expressed in greek and etymologically, because the mind is νοῦς And contemplation is nohsij. In Greek, there is another, more expressive, word denoting contemplation - qewr ... a.
The mind seeks to express himself through the reasonable power of the soul, lumbering in thought and words of contemplation - this is a natural desire, but not always feasible, especially if it concerns the experience of contemplation of the spiritual world, so the Apostle Paul said : "I know a person in Christ, who was fourteen years ago, was admired by the third sky. And I know about such a person that he was admired to heaven and heard the ineverance words, which a person cannot be retended "().
If the mind is dimmed with sin (and this is characteristic of all people after the fall), he does not have clear experience of contemplation. The dyed mind is not based on contemplation, but on sensual experience and reasonableness of the reasonable power of the soul, i.e. reason. The mind that makes essential statements is not based on contemplation, but by reasoning, becomes a mind (logoj). After the fall, thinking has become the main form of human mind, i.e. The mind manifests itself as a mind.
The saint if he speaks about the mind, then its localization in any part of the body is denied: "The mind is not attached to any part of the body, but is equally touched by the whole body, according to the nature of making a movement in the member subject to its action" [3, p. 35]. This thought was actively supported by the saint.
Distribution of mind, mind and reason
Here are some examples of how the holy fathers distinguish these concepts.
Rev. "Mind ( νοῦς ) There is an organ of wisdom, and the mind (logoj) is the body of knowledge. The mind, moving, is looking for the cause of creatures, and the logo, diversely equipped, examines only qualities. The quest is the first movement of the mind for the reason, and the study is distinguished by the logos of the same reason through the concept. The mind is characterized by the movement, and Logos - distinguishing through the concept " .
St.: "One thing to contemplate, the other is to reflect. The mind will first contemplate, and then it thinks diverse ... the mind must learn to be silent, it must be offended. Then he acquires a sense of secret, ultra-industrial and divine " .
Rev. "A reasonable creature belongs to two abilities - contemplative (qewrhtikon) and active (Praktikon). Contemplative ability comprehends the nature of the existing, the active acting acts and determines the correct measure for them. Contemplative ability is called the mind (noan), the same - reason (Logon); Contemplative ability is also called wisdom (sof ... an), the same - prudence (FRONHSIN). "
So, summarizing the said, it can be concluded that a clear distinction between the spiritual and contemporary and intellectual rational ability of a person is widespread in the patristic tradition, which was expressed in the use of the words "Mind" ( νοῦς ), "Mind" (logoj) and "reason" (Dionoia). This is a very important anthropological distinction, but in this issue There is a terminological blurry that must be considered. In most cases, the holy fathers have the word "reason" (Dionoia) denotes the ability to reason, thinking, indicates a reasonable power of the soul. The word "mind" ( νοῦς ) Most often indicates the spirit or contemplative ability of a person. And the word "mind" (logoj) can be associated with one, and with another word. What is his genuine value? From the above evidence it is clear that the rapprochement, and sometimes identifying the words of the words "mind" and "reason" is due to the fact that they relate to the same part of human nature - spirit, and their difference is due to the way the realization of the mind. If the mind addressed the contemplation of the spiritual world and God, he is always referred to as the word "mind" ( νοῦς For in this case, in this case, its activities directly corresponds to the divine design on him, through this activity a person acquires divine revelations and a certain knowledge of the entities of the creature world, which is true wisdom. If the mind appeals to the reasoning, the construction of concepts, dialogues, is referred to as the mind and the fruit of him are knowledge of the visible world. Mind is a reasoning mind.
The word "reason" (Dionoia) indicates the spiritual apparatus of thinking, the ability to create judgments, intelligence, mental power of the soul. If you use a trichotomic scheme for the description of human nature, then the reason is a mental category, while the mind refers to the highest spiritual part of the person, the mind is the mind-out of contemplation, interacting with the reason, based on his mental strength and experience. Therefore, in a certain context, it is possible to identify the words "reason" and "reason".
Since after the fall, the human mind is covered with a veil sin and is not able to contemplate the overall world, then it is used by man only in part in its lowest function - as a mind, i.e. As an instrument of analysis and understanding of sensual experience, as well as to invest in this experience in words.
The mind although it is based on the mind, but they are not limited to them and has other means and methods of knowledge: reflection, intuition, imagery, symbols, imagination, etc. All of the above is the reduced properties of the genuine mind ( νοῦς ). In particular, intuition - It is spontaneously manifested by the contemplative ability of the mind, which allows to understand the essence of an object or a phenomenon without analytical reasoning. However, in the mind, a praised sin, this ability is usually not detected or manifests itself extremely unexpected, most often in extreme situations. Modern man can not own this ability to constantly. Attempts to intensify this sphere of man using certain occult techniques lead to damage to the consciousness and the most severe forms of charms, which the holy fathers say a lot, so attempts to artificially develop intuition is an extremely dangerous spiritual experiment on themselves. The contemplative ability of the mind that manifested in the life of holy people is a certain fruit of their spiritual life, but not a goal. This ability receives its proper disclosure only on the path of life life, according to the word of the Lord: " I am also looking for the kingdoms and truth of it, and it will be all applied to you "(, sv. On the storage of feelings. M., 2000
Tuesday, 21 Oct. 2014.Mind and mind are not the same. The mind always interferes with self-controls, because the feelings and mind always take this ability and the opportunity at the mind - to control the situation. Feelings are robbers. They rob to His happiness, his fate. Feelings always tie us to some negative emotions, some problems. And they as robbers rob in the mind the ability to control the situation. And the mind is the slave of feelings. He goes on the feelings. Mind is the only one who should cope with the situation. And knowledge is the main attribute of the mind, for which the mind exists and lives. That is, gaining knowledge means the refill. If a person fills the mind knowledge, it means that he becomes reasonable. But knowledge is different ...
"The mind has the ability to understand and imagine life, worldly conditions, the mind is the divine power of the soul, which opens her to her attitude to the world and to God.
The mind is not only not the same thing that the mind, but the opposite of him: Mind relieves a person from those temptations (deceptions), which imposes a mind on a person.
This is the main activity of the mind: - By destroying the temptations, the mind frees the essence of the human soul "(1-68, p.161)
L.N Tolstoy.
"The mind is given to man to point out to him that a lie, and that the truth.
It is worth a person to learn a lie, and he will learn what he needs. "
What is the difference between the mind from the mind, what are their functions and how to control the feelings? Having understood with these phenomena, their functions and features, we can learn them to manage to make more harmony and happiness in your life.
Hierarchy of the mind, mind and feelings
Function feelings
In this case, feelings and emotions are not the same thing, because here this is speech On five sensual perceptions - hearing, vision, smell, touch and taste. In five senses, we get information about the external world. - This is the feature of feelings.
The senses are monitored by the mind that directs them to a particular object, and transfer the evidence to the received information.
Mind function
As for the mind, in addition to analyzing and control of the body and feelings, its main function - adoption and rejection.
The functions of the mind are to find objects to satisfy feelings, take what is nice and reject what is unpleasant.
The mind stretches to pleasant and rejects unpleasant. We want comfort, various pleasant sensations, pleasures, and do everything to get the desired - this is due to the work of the mind. The mind through the senses is trying to get as much pleasure as possible.
In Caitanya Charitamrit, it is also said that the function of the mind - reflege, feel and wish.
Mind function
What is the difference between the mind from the mind and what is mind at all? The mind, according to the Vedas, is above the mind, it is a more subtle substance than the mind and feelings. The main function of the mind is adopting a useful (favorable) and rejection of a harmful (dangerous, unfavorable).He distinguishes that it is good, which is bad and able to take into account the consequences of actions.
We can see that the functions of the mind and the mind are very similar - acceptance and rejection, but the difference is that the mind is guided by the idea of \u200b\u200b"getting pleasant and reject unpleasant," while the mind is more distanced, determining that it is useful and what is harmful.
Mind says either "want"either "I do not want" And the mind is assessed like this: "It will bring benefit" or "It will bring problems and trouble".
If a person is intelligent, that is, it has a strong developed mind, he does not go on the occasion of the mind and feelings, but considers his desires from the position "Does this benefit me or harm?"
Here is a young man walking down the street is hot, summer, heat, pecked, and he wants to cool and drink. Vision wanders down the street and finds ice cream - cold, tasty. The mind says "Do you remember the taste?" - Yes, I remember the taste, take the team from the mind - the legs go ahead, hands - take money, count, buy 10 servings. Very hot, I really want to take 10 servings! Since the mind is under the influence of feelings - he is so unprecedented, unindicted. But there is still a mind that has just such a screen, he is over the mind and feelings and says "Stop!". Mind says "If you eat 10 portions of ice cream, you caught the throat. You can crack your teeth due to abuse, you will spoil the stomach, if you are constantly it is, no, there are two servings enough. Enough! "
If the mind is strong, the mind will say - "I understood everything. Two portions". But if the mind is weak, the mind says - "I went out, I know without you, what to do, what do you study me, in general?"
Parents remember how children begin to lead themselves when they grow up. Exactly, feelings are strong, the mind is strong, the mind is not yet. You say them - "I know without you, do not bother, I want to enjoy." But the power of desire is very powerful.
An unreasonable person is guided only by the desires of the mind, which seeks to get a maximum of pleasant sensations, and is not particularly thinking about what such pleasures will lead to.
The mind can be a pleasant feeling of intoxication, fast driving, or any other pleasures (it is individually), while the mind looks at possible consequences Such actions and pleasures, and make adjustments, forcing a person to catch up and stop in time.
Homo Sapiens. because it is called reasonable that he is given mind, that's distinctive property man but the mind is not always stronger mind, especially in our time: we can see many unreasonable human actions and actions that lead to undesirable and negative consequences.
One mind is not enough for normal life; A person can be a smart, educated, intelligent, recognized specialist in a sphere of activity and even a genius, but this does not guarantee his intelligence.
Estimating the situation from the mind position, we can avoid many errors and unpleasant consequences His actions. A man with a strongly developed mind can general features Predict your future according to your current behavior. This is one of the reasons why you need to listen to the life of old people - they know what action to lead to what consequences.
Control feelings
Do you need to control your feelings, and if so, how to do it?
Yes, feelings need to be controlled, because they are insatiable, and if they give them will, it will not lead to anything good.
For example, receiving pleasant sensations from alcohol or drugs, a person can gradually sleep or become a drug addict; Pottaka with his sexual desires and walking "to the left", you can pick up a venereal disease; In pursuit of big money, you can lose the reason and find yourself behind the bars. Etc.
Our feelings are insatiable by nature: the more you give them, the more I want, therefore, definitely, feelings need control. When the feelings are "raised", they are much more complicated to control them, so it is important not to launch the situation.
But how to control your feelings?
Here you need to understand that the mind cannot correctly control your feelings, as it is, in fact, and directs them to receive pleasure (getting pleasant), without worrying about the consequences. The mind itself needs to be controlled and proper manual "Top".
Therefore, the correct control of feelings is possible only with a strong mind, which foresees the consequences, and therefore can give the correct assessment of our desires and actions.
In a truly reasonable person Mind is stronger than mind, therefore it the mind and feelings are under the control of the mind, which eliminates the lot of trouble from his life.
Now you understand from here in what lack modern Mira? Not therefore there are problems such as alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution and many others, but because w. modern people undeveloped mind sufficiently.
What is the difference between the mind of the mind, what are their functions and how to control the feelings. Having understood with these phenomena, their functions and features, we can learn them to manage to make more harmony and happiness in your life.
Hierarchy of the mind, mind and feelings
In the Vedas, in particular, in Bhagavad Gita, it is said that the feelings are above the dead matter, the mind stands over the feelings (by the manager them), the mind is above the mind, but above all of them - the soul, our consciousness in its pure form.
Function feelings
In this case, feelings and emotions are not the same, as there are talking about five sensual perceptions - hearing, vision, smell, touching and taste. After five senses, we receive information about the external world - this is the function of feelings. The senses are controlled by the mind, which directs them to a particular object, and transmit the evidence of the information received.
Mind function
As for the mind, in addition to analyzing and controlling the body and feelings, its main function is the adoption and rejection. The mind stretches to pleasant and rejects unpleasant. We want comfort, various pleasant sensations, pleasures, and do everything to get the desired - this is due to the work of the mind. The mind through the senses is trying to get as much pleasure as possible. In Caitanya Charitamrit, it is also said that the function of the mind is to reflect, feel and wish.
Mind function
What is the difference between the mind from the mind and what is mind at all? The mind, according to the Vedas, is above the mind, it is a more subtle substance than the mind and feelings. The main function of the mind is the adoption of a useful (favorable) and rejection of harmful (dangerous, unfavorable).
We can see that the functions of the mind and the mind are very similar - acceptance and rejection, but the difference is that the mind is guided by the idea of \u200b\u200b"getting pleasant and reject unpleasant," while the mind is more distanced, determining that it is useful and what is harmful. The mind says either "want", or "I do not want," and the mind assesses this: "This will bring good" or "it will bring problems and trouble."
If a person is intelligent, that is, it has a strong developed mind, he does not go on the occasion of the mind and feelings, but considers his desires from the position "will it bring me benefit or harm?" An unreasonable person is guided only by the desires of the mind, which seeks to get a maximum of pleasant sensations, and is not particularly thinking about what such pleasures will lead to. The mind can be a pleasant feeling of intoxication, quick ride, or any other pleasures (it is individually), while the mind looks at the possible consequences of such actions and pleasures, and makes adjustments, forcing a person to dress up and stop in time.
Homo Sapiens is because it is called reasonable that he is given a mind, this is a distinctive feature of a person, but the mind is not always stronger than the mind, especially in our time: we can see many unreasonable human actions and actions that lead to undesirable and negative consequences. One mind is not enough for normal life; A person can be a smart, educated, intelligent, recognized specialist in a sphere of activity and even a genius, but this does not guarantee his rationality.
Assessing the situation from the perspective of the mind, we can avoid many errors and the unpleasant consequences of their actions. A person with a strongly developed mind may in general, predict your future according to your current behavior. This is one of the reasons why you need to listen to the life of old people - they know what action to lead to what consequences.
Control feelings
Do you need to control your feelings, and if so, how to do it? Yes, feelings need to be controlled, because they are insatiable, and if they give them will, it will not lead to anything good. For example, receiving pleasant sensations from alcohol or drugs, a person can gradually sleep or become a drug addict; Pottaka with his sexual desires and walking "to the left", you can pick up a venereal disease; In pursuit of big money, you can lose the reason and find yourself behind the bars. Etc.
Our feelings are insatiable by nature: the more you give them, the more I want, therefore, definitely, feelings need control. When the feelings are "raised", they are much more complicated to control them, so it is important not to launch the situation. But how to control your feelings?
Here you need to understand that the mind cannot correctly control your feelings, as it is, in fact, and directs them to receive pleasure (getting pleasant), without worrying about the consequences. The mind itself needs to be controlled and the right leadership "from above".
Therefore, the correct control of feelings is possible only with a strong mind, which foresees the consequences, and therefore can give the correct assessment of our desires and actions.
In a truly reasonable person, the mind is stronger than the mind, so his mind and feelings are under the control of the mind, which eliminates the lot of trouble from his life.
In addition to the topic and to disassemble this important question more, read the article "
the ability to understand the ability to grab relationships. Understanding may be more or less quick and more or less deep: as a rule, the rapid understanding will be superficial, and slowly - deep. In a word, there is not a certain mind, but various forms Mind. The task of "professional orientation" - to reveal the mental abilities of each, give them the opportunity to succeed in the selected specialty. Success, as a rule, is proof of the mind (SPEARMANN). From a practical point of view, the mind can be defined as an ability to adapt (valve); The ability to quickly adapt to new situations or problems. Mental abilities are determined using tests (directed, for example, on mechanical combinations, an elemental account, a solution of puzzles for a certain period of time). Animal mind is limited to his ability to die ("the behavior of the driver") for the achievement defined result (For example, a monkey is sometimes capable of getting fruit with a stick). In a child, the development of mental abilities is associated with the development of the language: in 10 months its mind corresponds to the mental development of the Macaki, but then it quickly exceeds the degree of development. It should not be confused by the human mind with memory or judge him due to the development of an individual's passions, or with the power of his will. Everyone can develop their mind by self-education, as well as learning and judge.
A detailed answer to the question is what the mind can give far from everyone, even educated, man. In addition, the definitions of the mind are so much, and they are so different from each other, which without a special article can not do. That is why we decided to gather in this article all the main definitions of the concept of "mind".
Linguistic definitions of the mind
In this chapter, we give the vocabulary definitions of this phenomenon. The explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov-Swedovaya defines the mind as "a person's ability to think, the basis of conscious, reasonable life."
Similar description and in the Dalya dictionary: the mind is the "common name of the cognitive and final ability of a person, the ability to think."
Finally, B. explanatory dictionary Ushakov Defining the mind is practically a word in the word coincides with the above: "The mental ability underlying conscious, reasonable activities."
What is the mind from the point of view of science
Now let's turn to other sciences; In particular, we will offer definitions of the mind from the point of view of psychology, neurophysiology and philosophy.
Definition of the mind in psychology
The mind or intelligence from the point of view of modern psychology is a certain sustainable structure of human mental abilities and its level of opportunities to know the surrounding world. In addition, under the mind, the mechanism of mental adaptation of a person to various life situations, that is, an adequate assessment of the relationships and laws of reality, as well as the involvement of a person in the cultural experience of society.
If it is easier to speak, then our intelligence is a mechanism that allows us to conduct activities in conditions ambient and interact with the surrounding manner. Modern psychology He moved away from understanding of intelligence as a totality of exceptionally cognitive processes. Thus, the mind from the point of view of psychology is not only mental abilities, but also the ability to adapt to emerging situations.
Mind from the point of view of neurophysiology
Actually, in neurophysiology there is no such thing as the mind, but is the concept of thinking. Thinking is the main function of the brain, the ability to perceive and analyze information entering the brain in five senses: eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin.
According to physiological theory, thinking (mind) is reflexive activity, that is, in fact, the brain reaction to external stimuli. However, despite the fact that physiologists agree on the reflex activity of thinking, they recognize that physiological bases (That is, the causes of thinking) are studied very weakly. Without going into details, we note that it has not yet been proven that a certain thought process (for example, decision making) arises due to the action of a group of neurons (nerve cells) of the brain.
The concept of the mind in philosophy
The philosophical definitions of the mind are even more blurred than in psychology and neurophysiology. There were still ancient philosophers about the nature of the mind, but the antique NUS (this is what was uttered in ancient greener the word "mind") - this is not so much intellect concrete personhow many universal essence, the reasonable part of the immortal soul. The early Christian thinkers considered the mind as a means of knowing God, understanding the mind absolute, and under the intellect - a limited mind, which aims to comprehend the Divine.
Further, in the era of the new time and the era of the Renaissance there was a division of the mind (reason, intelligence) and reason. It must be said that modern scientific interpretations of the mind more relate to the mind, as they understood it in those days (medieval reason - the ability of a person to reason and explore), and not to the mind (medieval mind - the ability to penetrate the true essence of things).
Rationalists determined the intellect (mind) as a tool for the knowledge and formation of conclusions, and the great philosopher and thinker Immanuel Kant defined the mind as the highest cognitive ability and the basis of rational activity.
In the century, twentieth, when the passion for the measurement of everything and all showed himself to the highest extent, the concept of mind also did not remain aside. Today, few people do not know what IQ is - a quantitative measurement of the intellectual activity of the individual, which, perhaps, is out of the framework of philosophical science and refers more to the field of experimental psychology.
Mind from the point of view of Buddhism and Indian philosophy
The last definition of the mind that we will look here are related to some oriental religious flows, namely Buddhism and Hinduism. According to the interpretation of Buddhists and followers of the teaching of non-duality, Advaita (one of the branches of Hinduism), our mind is our memory. And indeed: try to deprive a person's memory, and it will not be able to say what to say, but even make a lot of action (for example, using a fork and a spoon for food and even just choose to choose myself. Thus, without memory, that is, no mind, a person will have to learn again.
What is the memory? Memory is, in essence, our last experience. It is the presence of long-term memory that allocates a person among other living beings. Although it must be said that many animals are also developed very well. However, they cannot think at such a level as a person, that is, to analyze what is happening in accordance with the existing experience. It turns out that it is analytical abilities along with memory, in fact, and make up what we call the mind.